The Right Way
by saroutthere
Summary: The Sweet Valley Characters reach sophmore year of college. Join Jessica and Elizabeth in a new school year filled with love, parties, and a bit of school!
1. Chapter 1

"I still can't believe we got this place on such short notice," Jessica said. It was the beginning of August, a few weeks before school started. "A five-bedroom townhouse! That's unheard of"

"I know, Daddy really had to provide six months rent deposit and provide a considerable donation." Lila said as she sat down on Jessica's bed. Jessica was busy unpacking a multitude of boxes filled with clothes, shoes, cosmetics, and books.

"At least it's only a block away from Greek street, I'm still pissed we couldn't all get into the house, I mean it's not like we're freshmen anymore!" Jessica looked at the shirt she was holding up and threw it over to the give away pile. It was their sophomore year at SVU and what should have been their first year out of the dorms and into a great sorority house. It turned awry when both Lila and Jessica didn't get a spot to live in the house. Being so close to the end of the summer, it had been a big scramble to find somewhere to live. They had found a two-bedroom apartment but soon found out that Isabella was coming back from Switzerland after recovering from her retroactive amnesia also needed a place to live. Meanwhile Denise and Alex who had originally been in the house heard that Jessica, Lila, and Isabella were out of a place to live they soon opted out and joined them in their search. They had lucked out when Ned Wakefield had mentioned the house was up for foreclosure and up for sale; Of course the university had bought up both parts of the town house since being so close to campus but Lila immediately had her dad investigate and they were able to get the duplex after her dad paid the university.

"At least we don't have to live with Allison aka Dracula!" Lila shivered, "I still don't know how she got to be president,"

"Well, when your parents practically support all of Theta's social functions . . ." Jessica trailed off as Denise walked in. Denise looked around the room laughing.

"Are you actually unpacking on just gossiping?" She asked pointing to the mess that was becoming of Jessica's room.

"I'm working on it!" Jessica smiled "You all settled in the penthouse?" referring to the attic fifth bedroom. They had been in a silly mood the first night they had all moved in and had named all of the rooms. Jessica was moving into the fishbowl since it was on the main floor right off the kitchen and living area and of course right in the middle of everything. Alex had jokingly named hers the cave since she got the great big bedroom in the basement which like a cave was a bit cold and dark, while Lila and Isabella had named theirs the parlor and the grotto respectively which were placed on the second floor.

"Yeah, I just finished, I was going to grab a sandwich; you guys want anything?" Denise asked

"No, I'm good," Jessica said.

"Hey, Denise, when do we have to meet for rehearsal?" Lila asked. The whole reason they had all moved in so soon was they all had to practice for rushing, which involved choir lessons, dinner etiquette, social topics to discuss, and other formalities that to most of the girls were all extremely boring.

"We have to be there by five," She said as she left for the kitchen

"Shoot, I had cheerleading practice until six!" Jessica said. "Damn, Dracula is never gonna let me live that one down, ugh," She flounced on the bed, at least what she thought was the bed, clothes were still pilled everywhere.

"Cheerleading practice? You mean you're going to join the squad?" Lila asked

"Of course, what better way to work out, then to jump up in down while watch the hot football players," Jessica said smiling. "It's only a matter of time before I find one. . . "

"Hold on, I thought cheerleading is a lot more work in college?"

"The more to get in shape!" Jessica said, "Besides I found all these cute work-out clothes over the summer!" She jumped up and started to look through some more boxes

'What time did you say you had practice?"

"Like 4ish, why?"

"Jess, it's like quarter 'til 4 now!"

"Shit! I need to get going!" She quick grabbed her gym bag and started throwing stuff in it. She rushed out the door leaving Lila in her midst.

"Ladies, Ladies!" Allison started, "This is hurting me a lot more then it's hurting you," A few groans rippled through the room. They were trying to go through plans for formal rush, they had been trying to decide finger foods to be served and no one could reach an agreement.

"Sure it is!" Isabella whispered into Denise's ear. Denise tried as hard as she could to cover her laugh but a little giggle escaped. This earned a disapproving glare from Allison and she quickly bit her tongue to hide her smile.

"Now as I was saying, obviously we want to set an image that Theta is the most prestigious sorority on campus. To get the best pledges we have to serve the best."

"Oh brother," Alex said under her breath. She looked around the room. Most of the girls were just about as bored as them. Why shouldn't they be, this was supposed to be the last weeks of their summer! Here she was freezing in this over conditioned house on a Friday night when she could be out enjoying her time on the beach. Allison continued to drone on over cucumber sandwiches vs. the idea someone else had given of just having trail mix. Seriously? What was the big deal, most of the time girls ended up not eating the stuff anyways. Just then she looked up to see Jessica sliding into the empty seat next to her.

"What did I miss?" Jessica whispered to her. She still had on her work-out clothes from cheerleading, probably the most comfortable one there since they had all dressed according to Allison's orders; Business casual. Jessica had obviously missed the memo.

"The importance of cucumber sandwiches," Alex said rolling her eyes skyward, "and why we shouldn't have trail mix."

"Right. . . " Jessica said smiling. Obviously it was worth staying those extra few minutes to solidify her cheerleading routines. Some of them were a lot more complex, and it had been almost 2 years since she was on the squad senior year of high school. She had her work cut out for her. She could feel Allison's eyes boring into her. But it looked like she was off the hook.

"I say we do this democratically, why don't we take a vote?" Allison's shrill voice carried over the room. "All those in favor of cucumber sandwiches say, aye?"

The whole room of dry ayes had it. "Good, now we can start on the table decorations and posters," The girls all split off into groups to work together.

"Seriously, this is brutal," Isabella said as soon as Allison was out of earshot, "Rush was nowhere near this much work last year,"

"Why does, she have to make everything so complicated?" Alex asked. The girls started putting together the paper dollies and connected the ribbon.

"I don't know, but if I have to listen to her speech about how great Thetas are, I might gag!" Denise said laughing, "That's not why I joined this sorority, I joined cause I wanted to meet people, and do worthy causes," Lila guffawed, "Okay so it was great to be known as the hottest. . "

"Don't forget sexiest and most popular," Jessica added

"Sexiest, most popular, smartest girls on campus," Denise smiled, "On another thought it was a great way to meet guys!"

"You call dating Winston something to brag about!" Lila laughed. Everyone else chimed in. Denise blushed smiling

"Speaking of guys you should see some of the offensive line this year!" Jessica said smiling.

Lila rolled her eyes "So you heard Ken Matthews is back?" She asked. Jessica stopped and looked at her, "I thought he was at Michigan State?" Jessica asked

"Was, being the operative word, he wasn't getting enough play time there so he transferred to SVU, he's now our new wide-receiver,"

"Really!? No way!

"Who's Ken Matthews?" Isabella asked quietly to Alex, figuring they were referring to someone she should know.

"He went to high school with us," Alex said

Lila stopped, "How do you not know this? It was in the paper a few weeks ago."

"Please! Like anybody reads the newspaper!" Lila looked at the other girls and smiled she chose to just ignore Jessica's comment.

"I heard he's grown since we've seen him last too," Alex pitched in. "And he's even hotter,"

"Sounds like maybe we need to have Ken over soon," Lila said

"So are we going out tonight?" Isabella asked jumping subjects. "I know this great new club,"

"I thought you had to be 21 to get in!" Jessica groaned. All of them were still 19 with the exception of Lila who didn't turn 19 for another week.

"We will be 21," Isabella said, "At least; these cards say we are. . . " Isabella pulled out some driver's licenses from her Gucci bag and passed them out.

"No way! Are these for real?" Lila said looking at the picture. Isabella nodded. Whoever this Tiffany person was in the picture had a strong resemblance to her own self. She looked over at Alex and Jessica's that they too were looking at. Both of them had passable fakes.

"You know what this means, right? We can get into all the hottest bars around campus now!" Jessica said excitedly. She saw Allison looking their way. She quickly stashed the card down in her purse.

"You know, Izzy we can get in a lot of trouble for these, where did you get them?" Alex asked a bit worried.

"Let's just say I made some friends over the summer," Isabella stated, "and besides the bouncers can't do anything to us, all they can do is take them away, but these are genuine!"

"Only the best for Thetas," Lila said dryly.

"So, I say Izzy gets drinks on us tonight!" Denise said

"Maybe this year won't be half as bad as I thought!" Jessica intoned. Allison was circling around so they silently went back to work.

"Girls, Girls, This is harder on you then me," Denise said in a shrill high soprano voice as the girls were walking into their house.

"Pardon, me darling, but don't you know the difference between velour and silk?" Alex said in a snobby voice. She flopped down on the couch. Had they really just spend four hours discussing what fabric to cover their dining room tables at for rush? They all laughed as they fell into the comfy leather couches and recliners.

Jessica headed for her room stumbling on some boxes she had left in the middle of the door way. "If it's alright I'm hitting the shower and getting ready, you guys better not start pre-gaming without me!"

"Is it wrong to hate her with a passion?" Isabella said checking her cell phone to check the time. Funny how no one calls when you really want them to, like they last four hours!

"I think in this case, it's called for!" Alex said rolling her eyes.

"Ugh, I need a drink after that!" Denise said going for the kitchen to look in the fridge. Denise groaned when she noticed that there were no cold drinks available. She stuffed some Bacardi razz in the freezer.

"Hey, did you guys ever see who moved in next to us?" Lila asked offhandedly.

"I think I saw some tall blonde hunk moving in early today," Isabella said smiling. Since she had broken it off with Danny over the summer she was a free woman.

"Yum, anybody else?" Lila asked

"I only saw him, but I see a lot of cars parker over there, there has to be more of them," She smiled.

"Where is Winston living anyways?" Lila turned to Denise

"He's over on the other side of campus, sadly he couldn't get into the dorms again," Denise joked, "He doesn't move in 'til later this month.

"That's so sad," Alex quipped. "So do you think the guys next door have some cold stuff?" Noticing before that Denise had put the drinks in the fridge.

"I don't know, maybe we should check," Lila said winking. She quickly stood up. Alex giggled but followed suit, "I'm in!"

Denise laughed, "If it means getting a drink, I'm in!" The girls quickly ran for the door. On the way out Isabella knocked on the bathroom door right telling Jessica they would be next door.

The walked through their front door and since the two porches were connected walked over to their neighbors doors.

"Wait!" Lila said adjusting her bra making sure a little bit more of her chest showed. If there was going to be cute guys, she wanted them to take notice. She gave Isabella the thumbs up and they knocked on the door.

"JUST A SEC!" They heard from in the house. The door swung open and who should be standing in the front door but

"Patman!" Lila groaned. She really couldn't seem to get rid of Bruce lately. They had broken up late last semester over something trivial. But she had run into him repeatedly over the summer. Then again when they both went to summer school, it was pretty hard to avoid.

"Lila Fowler," Bruce said with a smirk. He looked the other girls up and down, "What are you four doing?"

"We came to see if you guys were drinking tonight we all live next door, but obviously now that we see you're in company" Alex said she pretended to turn around. Was drinking worth hanging out with Bruce Patman? It was a toss up.

"Hey, Hey, be nice, we just tapped our keg, we would love some female companions,"

"We're humans, not pets," Lila said still taken aback. Would she seriously have to live next to Bruce for the year?

"Alright, point taken, so are you in or out?" He said making a blatant sexual innuendo.

"In!" Denise said looking pointedly at the others.

"OUT!" Lila said. But Alex grabbed her pulling her along. Bruce led them in where they could hear the faint sounds of a TV going. Sounded like baseball.

"I like what you've done to the place," Isabella said sarcastically looking at the ping pong table in the middle of what was supposedly the dining room. At the moment a huge bucket stood close to the table with the metallic keg. The layout of the house was pretty similar to their own, only they seemed to do a little bit better with the interior decorating. She noticed a huge Bud light poster on the wall along with a half-naked poster. Charming

"Thanks," Bruce said choosing to ignore the apparent sarcasm in her voice. "Hey Guys, come on in here and meet our neighbors."

Todd Wilkins turned around in his chair. He and Tom Watts had been watching the last part of the Dodgers game. What had turned out to be a weird road trip this summer had turned out to be almost the time of his life. He and Tom found out they had a lot of common interests besides Elizabeth Wakefield of course and obviously since she was over them they had almost been buddy-buddy. And the trip across the USA was pretty awesome as well. A few weeks ago he had gotten a call from Bruce about living in this awesome house with a bunch of other guys and he had taken it. He hadn't been all too keen on living in the frat house, and obviously either had Tom. By simple fate it turned out they were living with each other.

Alex sighed, "Good we do have some normal neighbors," Denise laughed I don't know if you call the two jocks normal!" She grabbed the red plastic cup on the ping pong table and started filling up. After taking a long sip of the cheap cold beer she sighed, "Drink that Allison!"

Just then who should appear but Ken Matthews from the kitchen.

"I don't think we've met," Isabella said extending her hand.

"Ken Matthews," he said shaking hers. She held onto his hand for a second longer then expected and he laughed.

"Wow, infamous Ken Matthews," Isabella said winking at Lila.

"Enid and Lila, that's crazy! You guys live next door?"

"Alexandra, but you can call me Alex" Alex said correcting him automatically. She was used to this when ever she saw old people from high school and even her family members. She hated the name Enid and was glad she had switched over.

"Yeah, we're all just about moved in," Lila said. She sniffed the beer in her cup that Denise had handed her, she assumed it was safe and took a sip.

"And you are?" Ken asked Denise "Denise Walters," taking another sip she could already feel the beer calming her frazzled nerves from earlier.

"So is it just you four?" Lila asked Ken trying to ignore Bruce, maybe Ken Matthews would be a great replacement to make Bruce jealous she thought to herself.

"No we have two other roommates. Gay guy named Neil that Todd and Tom met this summer," Bruce smirked knowing what was on both Isabella and Lila's mind, "and another guy from the football team."

"Cool," Alex said going to sit down with Todd and Tom, looked like the game was more exciting then the conversation happening. "Who's winning?"

"White sox up 4-2" Todd said leaning back in his chair. "Game's almost done then I think we were all gonna go out?" looking up to Bruce for conformation. He could really care less what happened tonight, he didn't have to work and didn't have practice tomorrow, and he was a free man.

"Yea, sounds good, would you fine ladies like to join us?" Bruce asked, "There's that new club I heard was fun,"

Denise shrugged her shoulders, Isabella nodded, and Lila just rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes," Bruce said

"I need to go back and do some shots, and get ready" Isabella said, "It's been so long since I've gone out dancing!" She laughed heading for the door,

"Should we just meet there?" Lila asked winking at Ken, this night was looking a little better.

"Sound's good," Ken smiled

"You're kidding, Bruce lives next door!" Jessica was in the bathroom with Alex both putting on make-up.

"Yea, Todd and Tom do too," Alex said leaning forward to apply some eye-liner.

"Wow, this just keep's getting better and better" Jessica rolled her eyes. She lifted a small tuft of long blonde hair and wound it around her curling iron. She was going for the loose curls tonight, seemed to be pretty popular right now in Hollywood. Helped she had thick blonde hair to pull it off too. "Only silver lining is we can go dancing now!" She smiled thinking of her new acquired fake. "I'm so excited!"

"I know me too, I feel so mature!" Alex said. She finished with the eye liner and continued with her lips. "Mind if I use your curling iron when you're done?"

"No prob, I'm gonna go grab a drink," She spritzed some hairspray and left the bathroom. She could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. She looked up to see Isabella in a gorgeous little black dress (LBD)

"Wow, someone wants some tonight!" Jessica laughed as Isabella turned around in her heels and walked like she was on a runway. Someone had turned up the stereo that was below the TV and loud strains of Fergie were reverberating off the walls.

"And yours isn't gonna stop traffic?" Isabella said referring to Jessica's skimpy blue wrap around skirt and spaghetti tank top.

"I just wanna dance!" And both of them started cracking up when she quoted Dane Cook's skit

"Are we bout ready?" Jessica asked sipping on the cold Bacardi razz. She was not much of a drinker. Obviously Isabella and Denise had spent more time partying since freshman year seemed she was going to have to start building up a tolerance. She was only on her second one but she was already feeling a little lighter and giddier. The urge to get up and move was starting to hit her.

"Just about!" Alex said from the bathroom, "It's already 10:30, I don't know if Lila and Denise are ready!"

"I'm ready," Denise said coming down the steps, "I'm gonna party like it's my birthday, yeah!" she joked dancing half moon-walking, which ended up looking pretty bad since it was carpeted floors and she had sandal heels on. They all laughed.

"Lila, get your skinny butt down here, we're all ready!" Isabella shouted up to the 2nd floor.

"I'm coming!" They heard distantly.

"And I thought I took a long time to get ready," Jessica said laughing. "Cheers!" she said to Isabella who had cracked open another beer. They clinked cups. Obviously it was going to be another 5 minutes if she had time for another. They all sat down at the kitchen table talking about the night to come.

"I still can't believe Ken lives right next door," Alex said, "What a small world"

"What's even smaller is that Bruce inhabits that same place," Jessica said rolling her eyes, "I thought that the university was only allowing certain students in there, students of higher quality for sure,"

"Well, they let Patman in, what has the world come too?" Isabella said laughing. Just then Lila came down the stars looking like a million bucks. Of course when your dad owns half of Sweet Valley that was quite possible.

"I'm ready," Lila said announcing her presence.

"Alright!" Isabella said, she looked at Jessica, "Ready to chug?"

Jessica's eyes widened "Is that a challenge?" She laughed, "On the count of three. . 1 .. .2 .. 3!" They both put the drink to their lips and started downing the liquid. Jessica thankfully only had about half left and finished first.

"Alright Hoes! Let's GO!" Alex said motioning for the door.

"Now remember girls, act bored when you give them your license, act like you own the place," Isabella said obviously had practice at this before. Jessica nodded trying to quench the trepidation overcoming her. She had never done anything like this before. True she had drank a couple of times, but never at an actual bar, and never with a fake id. She had been to a few frat parties last year. But as long as you had a student ID you were allowed in. This was some real cool stuff. They got into the line leading into the bar. Thankfully since classes were a good two weeks from starting much of the student body was still on break. It looked like a lot of the people here were either Greeks preparing for Rush or the athletes who had started practice this week. Obviously a lot of the football players were here.

The girls handed the bouncer their ID's who really didn't even take a second look at their birthdays. They smiled and winked as they walked by. Jessica had to giggle, saved by the good looks!

"Wow this place is hopping!" Alex said they found a table close to the bar and sat done on the high stools around it.

"You see the boys yet?" Isabella asked.

"What you really mean, have you seen Ken Matthew's yet," Lila laughed.

"Well, have you?"

Lila shook her head no

"I think it's time to order Izzy a shot for getting us here tonight!" Denise said trying to look for a waiter. "Looks like I'll have to go up to the bar, what kind do you want?" She asked Isabella.

"How about an Alabama Slamma!" Isabella said

"Alright, first rounds on me," Denise said as she went up to the bar.

"I've never done a shot before," Jessica admitted. She could feel her cheeks redden, seriously was she really that much of a goody-goody?

"Seriously?" Isabella asked. They had to practically shout over the music and the noise from the bar.

"Me neither," Lila said. So I wasn't the only one Jessica thought to herself. At least they couldn't hold that against her.

"It's really easy, kind of like taking liquid medicine," Alex laughed

"Are we really going to do this!?" Jessica looked at Lila incredulously. Lila just shrugged, "Loosen up Jess; you're starting to sound like Liz!" Jessica was taken aback. How dare she! She would show her!

Denise motioned them all over. The bartender was going to do a shot with them. They all squeezed into the bar section. Isabella quickly told the bartender that Jessica and Lila had never done shots. She pointed them out. The bartender filled two shot glasses with water and handed them to them. Isabella leaned in, "Just throw the liquid to the back of the throat and swallow real fast!" She said. Jessica took the shot glass of water and threw her head back and downed it as told. She watched as Lila did the same.

"You see nothing to it!" Alex cheered, "Now for the real thing!" They all grabbed their own shot and clicked with the bartender.

"Here's to a great school year!" Denise shouted over the music. Jessica closed her eyes and slurped the liquid similar to the water. She felt the cold, sweetness of the shot fill her throat. She quickly swallowed feeling her face grimace slightly at the bitter tasting Southern Comfort. She heard Isabella laugh.

"That wasn't even that bad you guys! It's barely hard liquor." Isabella said. Jessica laughed at her own reaction. She was getting a sweet aftertaste from the shot similar to orange and peach mixed. It was actually pretty tasty

"So are we ready to dance!" Jessica said motioning to the busy dance floor.

"Hell ya girls!" as they headed towards the dance floor.

"JESSICA WAKEFIELD!" Jessica turned around when she heard her name. It sounded like a familiar voice but after two more shots her brain was getting a little foggy and the music was loud. She looked over and about 10 feet away a tall muscular guy she had met over summer was standing with his arms open.

"NEIL!" She shouted running over in her heels. "What the hell!? I thought you were going back to Stanford?" She asked. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close. Boy it felt good to see a familiar face in the crowd. She seemed to have lost Alex, Isabella, and Denise who said they were headed to the bathroom. Lila went to go look for Ken who they hadn't seen yet. It was now past midnight and the club was in full swing.

"I changed my mind and decided after the summer with you SVU was a great school after all!" Neil hugged her and then stepped back looking her over, "You look hot,"

"So do you!" Jessica said looking at his button down shirt and jeans with the holes oh so fashionable. Man the guy could dress. She still couldn't believe she thought he was straight, He just knew too much about fashion.

"Who are you with?" He asked her scanning the crowd.

"Some friends but I seemed to misplasthed . . . misplaced them," Jessica said catching herself slurring. Maybe it was time to cool it.

"Come on back to my table, I want you to meet my new roommates," Neil said smiling. He knew she probably already knew all of them but it didn't hurt. He led her to the back of the bar where a bunch of guys were sitting.

"Here's the crew" he said leaning on so she could hear. He pointed to the table. Jessica looked around and saw Bruce, Todd, Tom, Ken, and Brad she had met earlier this week at cheerleading practice.

"Whoooa, Wakefield!" Bruce said standing up." What are you doing here, you're not 21!"

"I should say the same for you Bruce," She said knowing full well his birthday wasn't until later in September. He may be a good year and a half older than her, but she wasn't that dense.

"That hurts," he said in mock pain

Jessica ignored him turning to Ken Matthews, so here was the Greek god that Lila and Isabella had been looking for all night. He seemed to have the same gorgeously chiseled face he did in high school. His hair had definitely improved since high school; maybe he just had a better cut. It was just long enough to curl around his ears ever so slightly. He was standing up and he obviously had a good six inches on her, and she even had heels on. "Ken Matthews" She said flirtatiously looking him up and down slowly

"It's been a long time," He said smiling back at her.

"Too long," She could feel all eyes on her as she dug in her purse for a pen. She reached across the table for ken's hand. She slowly and deliberately wrote her cell phone number down on his palm grazing his hand with her own. After writing her number she smiled back up to him, "We should catch up," She said simply. She kept her eye on his as she said offhand to Bruce, "It's been a pleasure, hopefully I'll catch you guys at the house," She turned around and walked purposefully away with Neil at her side.

Ken looked down at the 10 simple numbers written on his hand. He pulled his cell phone out and entered in the digits. Not much had changed since high school he thought to himself, that girl could still make his blood boil. Obviously she had come on him strong but it was definitely a lot more subtle then some of the other advances he had seen tonight. And they had history. He heard Todd laughing beside him as he sat back down.

Brad whistled. "She's hot," he said taking another sip of his beer.

"Look's like you got the hook-up my friend!" Bruce said smiling patting Ken on the back.

"Yea, looks like it," Ken said absently He looked up again to see if she was still in sight but it looked she was lost in the crowd again. He shrugged, it's not like he had to make a move tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

"Whoooooooooa-oooooooh LIVING ON A PRAYER! Take my hand we'll make it I sweaaaaaar, Whhoooooooooaaaaaa-oooooooooooh!" Neil was screaming at the top of his lungs. He looked around him and it looked like everyone dancing with him was enjoying themselves. He and Jessica had been tearing up the dance floor ever since they had bumped into each other.

"WE GOTTA HOLD ON TO WHAT WE GOT! IT DOESN"T MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF WE MAKE IT OR NOT!" Jessica wrapped her arm around Neil, "WE GOT EACH OTHER, AND THAT'S A LOT FOR LOVE!" They started laughing and bumping hips as Bon Jovi continued singing.

The last chord played out and Isabella leaned in, "It's almost 1:30, let's get one last shot and head home!" She quickly said before the next song came on. Jessica shrugged looking over at Neil. They followed Isabella, Alex, and Denise over to the Bar.

"Where's LILA?" Jessica shouted over the music

"I think I saw her trying to flirt with Ken . . . . Or Brad," Denise said laughing.

"Five Red Headed Sluts!" Alex shouted to the bartender. He nodded and quick got to work.

"Can you believe how busy this place is!?" Neil asked leaning in close to Jessica.

"I know! I bet it's gonna be packed once classes start,"

Neil pulled out his wallet and put a twenty down on the counter, "Shots on me girls!"

Isabella and Alex both cheered as they passed them out.

"This one goes to being Wild and Crazy!" Denise shouted

"To Wild and CRAZY!" Jessica said putting her shot glass up. She smiled as she threw her shot down. Jessica was finally getting the hang of this! They all finished their shots.

"Come on lets go retract Lila's claws and get outta here!" Isabella said pointing over to the back of the bar. The girls laughed heading over. Just then "Don't Stop the Music"

"I love this song!" Neil said clapping his hands. "Come on Jess we have to dance!"

"OKAY!" She looked over at Isabella and Alex, "We'll meet you guys outside!" Jessica ran off with Neil to the dance floor.

The other three girls went over to where they had seen Lila last. Sure enough, looked like she had found something to keep her occupied. Or someone. She was lip-locked with Brad.

Isabella cracked up laughing, "This is great!" She pulled her camera out and quickly snapped a picture. The flash must of pulled Lila out of her make-out stance cause she looked over to where the girls where.

"Izzy!" She screamed quickly pushing Brad away.

Alex bent over laughing, "That will definitely be on Facebook!" Lila groaned

"We're heading out!" Denise said loudly. She looked at Brad and smiled, "You coming with?"

Brad shrugged, "I think we're gonna play some drinking games at our place, you guys what to join us?"

"SURE!" Isabella smiled. This would be the chance to hit it off with Ken. She looked over noticing that all the guys were finishing up their. Ken looked right at her and she turned her smile up a few more degrees, "You coming too?"

Ken smiled back, "I guess I don't have a choice, I live there,"

Just then they heard a bunch of catcalls heard over the music.

"Isn't that Jessica?" Lila asked pointing over to the bar. Jessica and Neil had somehow managed to convince the bartender to let them up, because they were now dancing on the bar.

"You leave those two alone for a second!" Isabella said rolling her eyes

"SHAKE THE BOTTLE, SHAKE IT UP, BREAK THE IT BOTTLE, BREAK IT UP, POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME!" Jessica was pretending to sing into a microphone as she was walking the bar trying to avoid puddles and empty glasses. Neil was holding onto her hips. She hated to admit he was probably holding her up. She continued to sing off key while many of the guys around her were whistling. This was the life! She thought to herself. She looked up in time to see Isabella holding up her camera.

"Picture time," she yelled to Neil motioning over to Isabella. The two of them gave some model poses which earned them both some more hoots and hollers. Neil pulled up on Jessica's skirt ever so slightly showing off some of her tan golden legs.

"Show Off," Lila said to no one in particular

"Wow, She's Hot," Brad said starring up to Jessica. The song was coming to an end so he started walking over to the bar. Neil jumped down. Brad looked up to Jessica giving her a hand. He grabbed her waist bringing her down to the floor "Nice moves," he said when she had her feet planted flat on the ground.

"Thanks," She said, "There's more where that came from," She said and then started giggling.

"Come on Jessica!" Alex said pulling her along. The group walked out of the club giving their ears a break the first time that night. It was a good four blocks walk back to their duplex since none of them drove.

"Nice dancing Wakefield," Bruce said teasing, "Love to see more of you,"

"In your dreams,"

"That place was so cool!" Denise said throwing her arm around Isabella's shoulders. "I can't believe we got into the bars,"

"It was better than cool, it was. . ." Jessica stopped a moment trying to form words together, "It was double coolness" and then she stopped and bent over giggling. Neil had to stop and pull her along.

"You are drunk my friend!" Alex said laughing.

"Am not!" Jessica said but couldn't stop laughing.

Lila blew a raspberry and realized how un-lady-like it was it earned a hearty laugh from Tom and Todd who were walking right next to her.

"Ohmygod check out the statue! We have to get a drunken picture with spike!" Isabella said as she pointed out the metal SVU Bulldog mascot that was standing right outside their stadium. She pulled her camera out and handed it to Ken, "Here will you take a picture of us girls?"

"Sure." Ken said turning it on. Isabella, Alex, Denise, Lila, and Jessica proceeded to sit on or around the bulldog. Ken clicked the picture when the girls were ready.

"Neil! You have to join us!" Jessica squealed motioning for him to come over.

"Yea, we have to get all the Girls in the photo," Lila joked. Neil laughed good-naturedly and come over and Ken snapped a few more.

"I don't know why they actually have that statue there," Alex said

"I know! They have to realize that its' like a college goal to get a picture on it, who ever thought of a dog the size of a horse to put this close to campus!" Lila said hopping of.

"My first picture with spike!" Jessica said, "Going to be a profile pic you know it!"

"Come on, hurry up girls, I need some more beers," Bruce said pointing down the street. They were only half way there. They all started walking

"Like you didn't get enough there," Ken laughed slapping him on the back. There had been at least two rounds on Patman tonight.

"I don't know bout you but I'm ready for some flippy cup action," Brad said

"Whas flippy cup?" Lila asked

"It's like a Beer relay race," Tom threw in

"Ew"

"It's an acquired taste," Bruce said condescendingly

"I don't really think you've really acquired much of anything Bruce," Jessica said laughing. She may have lost some of her balance; thankfully she had Lila to lean on, but looked like she still had some of her cunning wit.

"At least I can walk straight," Bruce said. Everyone laughed as they stopped and watched Lila and Jessica sway from side to side.

"We're trying to do that! It's like a game," Lila said and she and Jessica picked up speed while showing off a side to side walking pattern. Jessica just laughed

"Are we there yet? These heels are hard to walk in!" Alex said groaning.

"I don't thinks it's your shoes," Todd laughed noticing that even Alex was having a hard time walking. He really hadn't had much to drink that night, but watching everyone else he was almost starting to feel drunk himself.

"I'll race you!" Neil said to Jessica while jumping up and down

"Only if you give me a head start!" Jessica said. She took off her sandals. They were hard to walk in anyways. She took off running.

"HEY!" Neil said starting after her.

"You guys, wait up!" Alex said taking her own shoes off and sprinted after them.

"Wow!" Lila said laughing. Now that Jessica had left her side she was free to hang on to Brad who had been behind them.

The group finally made it to the steps and Neil being the first one to the door unlocked it and let them all in.

"I think I'm going to call it a night," Denise said yawning.

"Party pooper," Neil said laughing.

"Hey I still have to get up early tomorrow for work!" she said trying to defend herself

"I guess Tom, Brad, and I have practice tomorrow morning, we should probably get to bed too," Ken said noticing that most of the party was losing steam. Jessica and Lila and left to go to the bathroom at their place and that was over five minutes ago. It didn't look like they'd be finding their way back too quickly

"Ahhhh, you guys Neil's right, the night's still young," Bruce said

"There's always tomorrow night," Isabella said shrugging. If Ken was calling it a night, maybe she should too. It's not like she wanted to stay up late with Bruce. She was a bit hungry anyways. The drunk munchies were always the best.

"Alright, I guess we'll stop by tomorrow," Alex said following Denise and Isabella out the door. They said goodbyes and went over to their own place. Not that they had to worry about their keys, the door was standing wide open and they could see both Jessica and Lila dancing around in their pajamas. Or what looked like their pajamas. They had somehow found some old flannel pajamas presumably from Jessica's salvation donation pile since that was really all that they could find. The rest of their party clothes were scattered around the living room.

They all laughed, at the site of the two in pajamas that were probably more appropriate for five year olds. "Who wants some Ritz crackers!?" Isabella asked excitedly

"Oh me! ME!" Jessica stopped, raising her hand.

"Ohmygosh, Ritz crackers are like amazing!" Lila said joining in.

Denise laughed, "On that note, I'm going to bed, goodnight whores," she said

"Goodnight, Slutbag," Alex said heading for the cave.

Isabella pulled the Brita filter out of the fridge and poured three glasses of water for them. "Here, drink this," She said handing the glasses to Jessica and Lila.

"What's this?" Jessica said taking a sip.

"It's water!" Isabella laughed, "Drink a lot of it and it might prevent you from getting a massive hangover.

"Cool," Isabella rolled her eyes. She grabbed a handful of crackers and headed for her own room. "Don't be too loud down here," She said on her way up the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Jessica woke up when she heard her phone ringing. "Ugh," She groaned as she struggled to sit up. She looked around trying to place where she was. The sun streaming in through the window was so bright that it made her wince and squint. The room had girly floral wallpaper and seemed really prim and neat. She realized that she was in the parlor. She looked over noticing that she was sharing the queen sized bed with Lila. Jessica remembered trying to dig through the pile of stuff trying to find her bed last night but she was drawing a blank remembering how she got into Lila's bed. The shrill ringing still wasn't going away. It seemed to be coming from over by the window. What time was it anyway? It still had to be early it felt like she just went to bed. As she stepped onto the floor her feet gave our from under her and she feel into the bay window.

She quickly grabbed the cell off the charger and answered it

"Hello?" She said noticing her voice was a bit hoarse. Must have been all that loud singing and of course the long talk fest she and Lila had until four am. It seemed like she had a small crush on Brad.

"Good morning Jess," Elizabeth said smiling. It was past ten and obviously she had just woken her up.

Jessica groaned, "What do you want?"

"My aren't we friendly this morning," Elizabeth said cheerfully

"Fuck Off," Jessica said to herself.

"I was just calling to see if we're still on for lunch? I have an interview with some of the football players for a news write up," She said

"Football?" Jessica asked yawning; none of what her sister was saying really seemed to sink in right now.

"Yea, pigskin, guys throw the ball around, tackle each other . . . "

"I know what it is!" Jessica cut in

"Alright, alright, so do you want to still meet?"

"For an interview?" Jessica asked.

"NO! For Lunch silly, what do you say 1ish?"

"What time is it now?" Jessica asked finally kicking some of the grogginess. But Elizabeth's voice was doing nothing for her growing headache

"Jess, it's already after 10!"

"Only 10? What are you doing up the sun hasn't even risen!"

"I have that interview!" Elizabeth sighed, "So yes or no to lunch?" she asked exacerbated.

"Better make it a late lunch," Jessica said yawning. She looked over to Lila who still had her Swedish sleeping mask on. She noticed that Lila was still snoring soundly, unaffected by her crash and conversation. Jessica smiled realizing that she also had on some very unbecoming floral granny pajamas. Last night was starting to come back, after trying on a bunch of old pajamas they had finally settled on a few of what she figured was her mother's old giveaways that had somehow made it into the boxes of storage for school.

"Alright I'll see you at 2:30!" Elizabeth said clicking off. Jessica flopped back into bed, that left her a couple more hours at least and she wasn't going to waste it trying to figure out why her own bed was inhabitable. She pulled the covers back from Lila and drifted back to sleep.

Elizabeth grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the kitchen since it sounded like it might be awhile until lunch and headed out the door. Unlike Jessica, she had been settled for a good two weeks in a small apartment with Nina. While it was turning out to be a lot of fun to live with Nina she was actually starting to miss some of the drama that Jessica created in her life. She almost hated to admit it! She really hadn't seen her sister much but to trade the jeep back and forth. That would change too after she got Steven's old orange bug. Steven and Billie were both studying abroad in England; Billie with her music scholarship that she had won the previous year, and Steven who had been accepted in an accelerated undergrad Law program which would allow him to graduate early after that semester and then who knows where they would end up the both of them for Steven's law school. They left in less than a week so after that she didn't know when she would see her sister much more.

Elizabeth sighed, thinking of the upcoming interview for the newspaper. She had called the football coach earlier this week and they had agreed on Saturday so he could get a sense of where the team stood for the first week of practice. Thankfully she didn't have to write the article she was just the gopher cause her editor was too lazy to do it herself and had sent her out. But she really couldn't complain, it had been a great opportunity to actually get to work on the Sweet Valley Newspaper. In a few more weeks it was back to college journalism and classes.

She walked over to the stadium hoping to get some exercise in. Her apartment was only a couple blocks from campus so it wasn't too much of a hardship. It took her less than five minutes to walk around the stadium and head into the athletic complex which held all the locker rooms and coach's offices. She scanned her student ID at the door which granted her access into the building. She was really going to have to check this place out more. They had an awesome fitness center, weight room, and aerobic classes not just for athletes but for all the students as well. Working on a newspaper might be fun, but it didn't really provide much exercise she thought to herself. She rounded the corner and headed down the hall. She heard a bunch of male voices and knew it had to be the football team. She saw a bunch of guys in purple polos talking outside the locker rooms.

"Hi, is Coach Swartz around?" She asked, "I have an interview with him and some of the players," she flashed them her press badge.

"Oh sure, He's in the locker room," One said motioning her to follow him. She smiled thankful for his guidance. She followed him into the football locker room. She looked around noticing that they were tons of motivational posters, and pictures of Football paraphernalia on all of the walls. She looked around the locker room realizing that there were also many half naked football players and she blushed seeing one guys' bare ass heading for the shower. A few guys close by wrapped a towel around themselves hollering protests and catcalling. She actually saw one guy whose biceps were probably as big as her neck wink at her.

"Don't mind them, they're just all jacked up cause the coach took it easy on them today," the guy in the purple polo told her. She laughed nervously. He showed her into the coach's office.

"Hi," She said extending her hand, "I'm Elizabeth Wakefield, we spoke on the phone," She said.

The coach shook her hand with a strong grip. "Of course," He said smiling, "I see you've meet some of the players," referring to the commotion she had created.

"Yea," Elizabeth laughed softly, "Guess I have," She started in right away hoping to get this out of the way so she could talk to the players as well. She turned on her small recorder that she used for interviews and sometimes lectures that got to be a bit exhaustive. "Let me just get some quick demographic information, this is going to be your fifteenth year coach, right?"

"Yep, I spent a couple of years in Arkansas, and moved to Georgia where I had been for the last thirteen, Never been out to California until this spring actually,"

"Like it so far?"

"I must say, you have some of the best weather around, I've been able to get in a bunch of golf!" He laughed. Elizabeth smiled continuing the interview. Sounded like this guy was a pretty nice guy, unlike the guy from last year who she heard had been a bastard on the field and off. She knew this guy could probably be pretty strong handed too but at least he was overall a generally approachable person. She asked him a bunch more questions about his hopes for the season, some of his best players and who to look out for, and a bit of information on his past experiences with coaching. After a good fifteen minutes with him she figured she had enough and thanked him for his time.

"Make sure to have a word with Tom Watts and Ken Matthews, both walk-ons this year who seem to have a lot of talent,"

"Tom Watts?" She asked confused. She hadn't realized he decided to rejoin the team. And Ken was news to her too. She hadn't realized he had transferred to SVU.

Coach nodded, "He started quarterback freshman year, but I guess quit midseason due to family issues, but I'm glad to have him back, he's a strong player and a hard worker,"

"Thanks," Elizabeth nodded blankly and left the office. She looked around noticing that most of the players had clothes on this time and she sighed with relief. She rounded a set of lockers looking for Tom Watts and Ken Matthews. The coach had told her that they were both on offense and had just finished up an after-practice meeting to discuss strategy.

A guy stepped in front of her and smiled, "Hey, aren't you the chick that was dancing on the bar last night?" He asked.

"Ummmm. . .no," She said looking him up in down. She had never seen him before in her life. "Must be thinking of someone else," She volunteered shrugging. She started to walk around him.

"No, I'm sure of it!" He stopped her in her tracks, "Jessica right?"

Elizabeth laughed, "My sister's named Jessica, but she doesn't do the bar scene," Elizabeth walked away shaking her head. That was weird she thought.

She located Ken and Tom on the last set of lockers.

"Can I take a moment of your guy's time?" She asked them professionally.

"Liz," Tom asked taking off his practice shirt and looking at her, "What are you doing here?"

"I had an interview with Coach Swartz and he suggested I talk to you two," She said pointing to Ken.

"Oh," He said simply.

"Hey Liz, nice to see a friendly another familiar face," Ken said smiling at her.

"I didn't realize that you had transferred," She asked him. He too was shirtless and his washboard abs were very defined under his tanned skin. He had definitely gained a bunch of muscle since the last time she saw him. She blushed again realizing that she hadn't once looked into his eyes.

"Yea, Michigan State was great and all, but if I was going to go through all the work of practice I wanted the chance to play," He said.

Elizabeth continued to question him about football and some things he was looking for in the SVU team. She tried as hard as she could to ignore Tom, but it was hard. She noticed that he too had a nice body. Was this appropriate for her to be lusting over him in an interview? She quickly shook her head trying to get the thoughts out of her head. She had to be professional. Admiring her ex was definitely not professional. After she asked Ken a few more questions she turned to Tom awkwardly asking him some of the same questions. Ken left for the showers after realizing she was done with him.

"So why'd you come back?" She asked more for her understanding then for the interview's sake.

Tom shrugged, "I guess I missed the cheering, the high-intense games, the parties," He said smiling. "I guess I've kind of lost what college is all about,"

"And what's that?" Elizabeth asked. She turned off her recorder. This wasn't really related to the article anymore. It was becoming more personal.

"I realized that next month I'll be twenty-two and in less than a year I'll be graduated, then what? I go onto get my Masters in Journalism and stuff myself in a shitty news room for a bit longer?" Tom sighed, "I guess I just wanted the chance to play again, be popular, be the "Wildman Watts again," He laughed.

"Are you going to play for more then one season?" She asked curiously

"Who knows I guess I'll just see where it takes me,"

Elizabeth nodded, "I guess I'll let you get back to your shower, Good luck with everything," She said genuinely. Some of the pain that he had caused from their break up was starting to drift away, he really was a pretty good guy but she didn't know if she really wanted to go down that path again quite so soon.

"Thanks, hey Liz you should come by tonight," Tom said smiling one of his thousand watt smiles, no pun intended.

"Um sure maybe," She waved goodbye and walked away. She could feel her heart pounded in her chest. Seriously? Was she acting like a teenager or what? Well then she realized she was a teenager even if she was nineteen. But still Tom shouldn't have this effect on her!

She left the way she came in hearing some more catcalls. "Call me!" One guy shouted and a bunch of guys laughed. She had to crack a smile. She looked at her watch and realized she had a good two hours to kill. Well she could go to the café and write up her preliminary notes on her laptop. Jessica had the jeep so it wasn't like she could go anywhere. She sighed and started walking for the café on the other side of campus. At least she had comfortable shoes!


End file.
